William earns a base salary of $50.00 every week with an additional 15% commission on everything he sells. If William sold $3850.00 worth of items last week, what was his total salary?
Solution: First, find the amount of commission made by using the following formula: commission rate $\times$ total sales $=$ amount of commission made Since the commission rate is a percentage, we have to convert it into a decimal first. Percent means "out of one hundred," so $15\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{15}{100}$ which is also equal to $15 \div 100$ $15 \div 100 = 0.15$ Now you have all the information you need to find the amount of commission made: $0.15$ $\times$ $$3850.00$ $=$ $$577.50$ We can find the total salary for William by adding the amount of commission made to his base salary. amount of commission made $+$ base salary $=$ total salary $$577.50$ $+$ $$50.00$ $=$ $$627.50$ The total salary William made last week was $$627.50$.